having to BORROW a treeless saddle - NOT happy !

Shysmum

Shysmum

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I am really not happy tbh. Since realising that Shy's thorowgood was pinching at his shoulders :(, I have been on the trail for a treeless one, to cope with his weight issues (ahem).

The first saddle I tried didn't fit me, so that had to go back, and was refunded - no problem. But still didn't have a saddle. So I decided to take the plunge and order a Barefoot - placed the order on 27 April, and it wasn't in stock, even tho they accepted payment and didn't tell me it would become a back order (I should have read the notice on the site better, but all the same.:mad:). I even paid for "next day delivery", hahaha!!!

Anyways, despite being told it should be here via a shipment from Germany "last week", it has still not arrived, and I've had no response from the company. I am still saddleless, but fortunately the RDA are going to lend me a saddle, as Shy is starting to get a bit bulky, and things are getting desperate.

I'm so angry with myself, I trusted the British offshoot to sort me out. i will now have to cancel this way overdue order, and order direct from Germany, who say they deliver in 5 days. I have also complained to germany.

Why do companies accept orders for stock they do not have, take full payment, know the shipment won't be for AGES, cannot even confirm if your order is IN the next shipment, don't email the buyer to tell them this, but simply point to their disclaimer. And then, don't bother to keep the buyer informed :confused: Or am I missing something ?? Where is the customer service here ???

I am sick to the back teeth of trying to go treeless - wish I'd never started , but am NOT going to give up now. Watch this space.
 
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Not good. My sister ordered a barefoot one and didn't have any such problems. Have you tried contacting them again?
 
They are dropshipping, way to keep their money tied up in stock to a minimum, most companies do it now but you can come unstuck when, like you have discovered, the saddle they have ordered in from the dropshipper is not in stock or there's a delay somewhere along the line!
Doesn't help you I know, I hope you get your saddle sorted soon,Oz :)
 
Oz, thanks so much. I feel like a lot of poo is landing on my head cos of all this treeless malarky. I'm going to get my money back and start again in deutschland. Meanwhile, I'm borrowing a saddle, so will be able to get a bit of lard of both me and Shy !!

Never had any response to you-know-what while I'm at it :mad: I think i need to sit at the top of hill and meditate repeatedly.

sm xx
 
A company shouldn't take payment from your card until dispatch. If you want to cancel the order and they are refusing or not getting in contact, just speak with your bank they should be able to stop the credit card payment.
 
Hi shysmum,
this happened with me when I ordered a new grandeur pad for my barefoot (I brought secondhand and didn't come with a pad).
Said it was in stock when I ordered & paid, then received an e-mail saying they'd made a stock error and I would have to wait for the next shipment from Germany (about 10 days). After 3 weeks went by and still no word I got in contact with them only to be told that my order had been left off the shipment!
They did offer me a refund then or wait (again) which I did and eventually received the item 6 weeks after initial order.
In there defence they did upgrade my postage to next day, but I would be cautious
about ordering barefoot products from them again.
It will be worth it in the end though!
 
Poor you and Shy. I don't know anything about your circumstances, but could good old fashioned long slow distance long reining could help keep his lbs in check?
 
shysmum said:
Oz, thanks so much. I feel like a lot of poo is landing on my head cos of all this treeless malarky. I'm going to get my money back and start again in deutschland. Meanwhile, I'm borrowing a saddle, so will be able to get a bit of lard of both me and Shy !!

Never had any response to you-know-what while I'm at it :mad: I think i need to sit at the top of hill and meditate repeatedly.

sm xx
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Yes, I know exactly what you mean and I DOUBT IF YOU WILL GET A RESPONSE!
Or not what you want to hear anyway!
Oz :)
 
I dont know why people want barefoot saddles anyways. My mum used to saddlery repairs and had a couple of their saddle to fix as they were so badly made! The saddle was stitched together really wonky! Over an inch out, meaning that one side wass further foward than the other. Hope you get your money back and everything sorted soon.
 
You have my sympathy. After dealing with the same drop ship company (without realising that is what it is), I waited just under 8 weeks for my saddle. Which was no good. Had to return it and there was a 6 week wait for the replacement. So I asked for a refund.

Guess what, you have to wait 30 days for a refund! I ordered (AND PAID FOR) my saddle in February, it was delivered at the end of April, and I wont get my refund until nearly JUNE! It is soooo wrong.


Needless to say I ordered my replacement saddle from Germany and it arrive 4days later (despite 2 bank holidays).

I now adore my new barefoot saddle, and so does my horse.

But I am still waiting for a £500 + refund from the company I paid in February. CRAZY

If you want a Barefoot please order from Germany.
 
Marley&Me said:
But I am still waiting for a £500 + refund from the company I paid in February. CRAZY

If you want a Barefoot please order from Germany.
Click to expand...


Gosh thats terrible customer service! Why do you need to wait 30 days for a refund???

How do you order from Germany? Just off the barefoot website? How do the prices compare from buying through retailer in discussion?
 
I had the same - ordered a saddle, was told that it may come in the next shipment but there was no way to be sure. I waited 5 weeks before canceling - when I did cancel, they said that it had come in and they had debited my card. Luckily the transaction was declined (not sure why, plenty of money in my account to cover it) so I didn't have to go through a refund process. I bought my saddle off ebay in the end. I have recently sold one on there and I have had so many people bidding, I think it must be because it is so hard to get hold of them in this country!
 
Thanks so much, don't feel so alone now. They have my money alright. I'm absolutely livid now, and am going to speak to trading standards. Of course, they don't answer their phone lines on monday do they, and if they think they're keeping my money for 30 days !!!!!!! :mad:

I do hope everyone has sussed who they are - not going to name them or the thread will get pulled.
 
This is the reply I got from the company this morning. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place, aren't I. They "believe" my saddle may be being shipped over, but surely they should damn well KNOW ??? This whole thing is so wrong on so many levels, and I'm sitting here just not knowing what to do........

"Shipment, I believe, is now on route to us and expected in the next few days (Cheyenne's are definetly included on that shipment)
Dispatch will send you an email as soon as your order is on its way"

I'm rapidly going off this saddle before it even arrives, and it was supposed to be my birthday pressie from my parents. :(
 
I would still cancel if you can, and order from germany. I wouldn't want them to profit from me, for such uphauling customer service. ;)
 
If it's the same company I bought my barefoot from I'd cancel. They sold me mine, got it fine but when I questioned that it was rubbing I was told a croc!They said they'd never had that problem before and it must be my pad..so went out and paid £100 for a pad and it made it worse!!!! :mad: Found out afterwards that alot of people had experienced the same problem and they were mis selling the correct sizes for horses and not advising weight limits for riders.

Treeless is most definately not a cheap and easy option and while I know exactly why you've gone this route cos my lad is the same nightmare to fit, I'd tread carefully cos there doesn't seem to be many helpful companies around. I'm saving up for a good quality treeless from a company with proved good customer service now.
 
samcrob said:
Gosh thats terrible customer service! Why do you need to wait 30 days for a refund???

How do you order from Germany? Just off the barefoot website? How do the prices compare from buying through retailer in discussion?
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LOL! I suspect this thread is being "watched" . About an hour after I posted on here about waiting for my refund, it arrived in my paypal account!

The only downer being I got stung for £16-odd in paypal fees! NOT HAPPY.

Any idea how to get the £16 in fees back?

As for ordering from Germany, it couldnt be simpler.

Google "Barefoot Germany" and you will find it. The click on the link "online shop" on the home page and it will take you to the shop...which is all in English. Customer services is great, you can email then for a stock check too (which is accurate) and they will respond within hours. Then if you pay by paypal you get it shipped the same or the next day. Fabulous!
 
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Just spoken to Germany, and they say parcels are being sent to the UK all the time. They have suggested I wait a week, if no saddle to order direct from them. I told them exactly what I think of this company's customer service, and that I paid for "next day delivery" - the lady went to talk to a collegue (sp) (if only I'd kept up my german !!!), came back and suggested the above.

I am now going to see if the borrowed saddle fits, and try and go for a ride for the first time in 3 weeks. And chew this over.

M and M - posts crossed ! Congrats on the refund !!

Edit - decision made - I'm going to cancel and order direct from germnay.
 
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shysmum said:
I'm rapidly going off this saddle before it even arrives, and it was supposed to be my birthday pressie from my parents. :(
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Don't go off the saddle! I love my Cheyenne.

I have an old model and its one of the limited edition green ones - I bought it over 4 years ago now and went for the green because I would have had to wait a few weeks to get a black one. So looks like not much has changed since then!
 
where are you Shy's mum?

I have the size 2 cheyenne you can try mine out if you like if you are close enough.

I am in North London.
 
Surrey Equestrian anyone?! They were AWFUL for doing that!

I hope your saddle arrvies soon, have you reported the company to trading standards?
 
haha, Surrey Equestrian - I've just been in Surrey, a mile from where they used to do the horsey stuff, really looking forward to a got old rummage, only to find out (via this forum) that they stopped doing horsey stuff quite a while ago.

And to top my day off, Shy has just eaten his way through his new rubber (not Happy Mouth) bit......so we're back to metal whether he likes it or not. And don't ASK how I got on with bitless bridles, suffice to say that I panicked and got off after five minutes due to zero control.

So, so far - going on ebay are a bitless bridle, a complete thorowgood cob saddle, two girths, two polypads, a greenguard headcollar, with three muzzles (I want the straps) cos that was $%&*.......and if this doesn't get sorted, a piebald cob as well. ;)

ps changed my mind again, and leaving it for a week as I originally decided. That's if the cob hasn't been sold.
 
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I've got a friend who ordered a Barefoot from a certain company (in Scotland - is this where everyone else has had problems with????); and she's had identical problems, i.e. outrageously long delivery time (after they'd had her money), THEN when the product itself arrived, it was disappointing in the extreme - not like the Barefoots on their advertising at all - totally unrecognisable in fact! So she sent it back for a refund - and is still waiting, a LONG TIME after the 30 days refund period.

I very nearly ordered a Barefoot from this same company; it was only coz I'd bumped into her at the local feed merchants, and she'd told me about it, that I didn't do so.

Personally I think people need to be getting on to Trading Standards about this. Plus ....dunno but I think I'm right in saying that if you pay by credit card you've got certain consumer protection for cases like this? Does anyone know? Coz that would be another avenue if so ....

Not good enough IMO.
 
Funnily enough........you are spot on.

I didn't pay by credit card, stupidly by visa debit - but we've done a bit of digging and you can get something called a "charge back" from the bank, an option if needed. The 30 day thing is in their terms and conditions, but I can't understand why, as the previous saddle I had to return (due to my size !) was refunded instantly.

Do you think Trading Standards would be interested - Oz further up says that many saddlery companies operate like this now :confused: Tbh, I'd never heard of this drop-shipping, and would not have got involved if I had known. Buying a saddle mail order is certainly not for the faint hearted.

I am so sad, cos I did so much research (and have ridden in the saddles), and this was my birthday pressie from my mum and dad.

Anyways, twixt a rock and a hard place.
 
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